Books in my book bag

In honor of my trip to the library yesterday, and since I am always looking for a good book (and I thought others might be too!), I am adding a new list to my sidebar. I am adding the books in my book bag. I was trying to add pictures, but haven't figured that out yet. I was actually overly impressed with myself that I got the names of the books on the sidebar, since I had NO idea what I was doing. I will try to update it every week after I go to the library.

Fluffy little tutus...

My 5-year old had her Spring Dance Recital last night. She looked adorable in her little pink costume. She did a great job with her dance too. My 5-year old loves to look at all the costumes. I must admit that I love to as well. That is my favorite part of dance. I have found that there are many things that I don't like about dance. Here are a few:
1. Mothers. Not all mothers, just the ones that go a little over board with the whole dancing thing. The ones that take their kids to the hair dresser for their "recital do". The ones who paint their kids with so much make-up that you would think they are clowns. The ones that bring a HUGE bouquet of flowers for their daughter after the recital is over.....and I mean HUGE flowers. We are talking bigger than my wedding bouquet!!
2. Rehearsals. Monday night, they had a dance rehearsal. Total mess. Is it really necessary for 3 year olds to rehearse? They aren't going to do their dance any better.
3. Recitals. I think ours are just handled very poorly. I had to stand through the whole thing last night because there was not enough room for everyone. There were people standing all the way around the auditorium, and even people in the hall watching from the open doors. This was especially bad for me since I was there with our 3 kids by myself (my husband, the lucky dog got out of the recital because he went to the rehearsal and had official church business to attend to). So I got to stand in the back, holding my baby, and trying to contain the other two in my two square feet of space. Getting out of there afterwards was a nightmare. I sat in my car in the parking lot for 20 minutes trying to get out....as I did so I sat and watched my gas mileage plummet....22.4...22.3....22.2. It was great entertainment I assure you!
4. Dance Choreography. The little girl dances were cute and fun, but something seems to happen between the cute little girl dances and the big girl dances. Can I just say that I was appauled!! I think if some of those girls were wearing a little less (and not much less) they might be taken for strip club dancers. I wanted to cover MY eyes, let alone the eyes of my children. I am sure the guy in the back of the auditorium with the binoculars was loving all the jiggling and bouncing though!!
Sorry to go off! I was just needing to whine a little. I sat there last night just thinking to myself, "This is my life?????". I want my little girl to have good experiences, learn new things, become self confident, and able to get up in front of others, but I am not so sure this is the way to do it. I would give it up entirely if they didn't look so adorable in those little tutus!!! Here are some photos of our little ballerina!

Pretty Tootsies

I wanted to have a picture of our pretty tootsies on my blog too. Here they are:

One of my favorite thing about having girls is painting nails. My girls love to have their nails done. It was so nice and warm and sunny last week, so we hauled a blanket out on the front lawn and had a little pedicure party. The girls had a ball. I don't think the neighbor boys were too thrilled. Neither of them wanted me to paint their nails. Although one of them already had chipped pretty pink paint on his fingernails...LOL...I guess that is what happens to little boys when they have three big sisters. We have these cute little flower decals (complete with gem stone middles) that we love to put on our pretty painted tootsies. (I got them at Wal-Mart) Now our tootsies are all ready for sandal season, too bad it is raining today!!!

Owlhaven's Monday Challenge

Okay, is it all right to be doing a Monday challenge on a Thursday? I guess I am a little behind this week. Anyway, Owlhaven issued a challenge to take three pictures of somethings from your house that say something about you. So here are a few pictures I dug out of my archives.

This first one is a shelf my DH made for me for my birthday last year. I love him...I can dream up any idea and he will make it for me. I made the embroidered stitchery "Love is Spoken Here" sign because sometimes I forget! There is also a wedding picture of my husband and I and a picture of my DH's family taken at his youngest sister's wedding 3 years ago. The candle holders were a present from a dear friend. I love this shelf and how it is decorated because it pulls from all aspects of my life: marriage, family, friends and the gospel.


This is a picture of my bedroom. I love my bedroom. I especially love my bedding right now. Almost the first thing I do every morning is make my bed. I love to see it nice and neat when I come into my room. I made the floral arrangement over the bed. I love the touch of pink in it, and luckily my husband doesn't mind a little pink in his room. I think my room is so beautiful and I love it because it shows off my soft feminine core.


This is a picture of a decoration I made for my girl's bathroom. I love making wood crafties. This was a fun project because I got to dream up a whole new bathroom decor theme. I love dreaming up new ideas of how to decorate and change things. I made several other flowers to put around the room as well. I love the saying too, afterall, all things do grow with love. It reminds me that my girls are going to grow up so fast, so I need to give them as much love as I can right now.


Well those are a few things from my house that say a little bit about me. I love this challenge. I love to see other people's houses. Your house says so much about who you are. Thanks owlhaven!!

Tired of Chores

Lately I have become the ranting raving screaming yelling kind of mom and I hate it. My big problem is chores. I will send my kids off every morning to do their chores. Three hours and a lot of yelling later they are still trying to make their beds. It absolutely ruins my whole day. Why can't they just get in there and get it done? Don't they know we could then spend the rest of the day playing? I guess that is the key right there, they are playing! That is why they aren't getting their chores done.

Well, I have grown so tired of the fight that I keep inventing different ways for them to get their chores done. I tried rewards (such as treats, staying up an extra 15 minutes, watching a show, going to the park, etc.), but that only worked for a little while. We have also tried "obedient bucks". Money that they can earn for doing their chores, which they can use later to buy various treats, or toys from the "treasure bag". That only worked for a little while too. I found out that was more of a hassle for me to uphold the system and remember to give them their "obedient bucks". So tired and frustrated that nothing was working I came up with a new plan. I wrote the name of every room in our house on a paper and put them in a cup. We all take turns drawing out a room, and then we go clean that room TOGETHER. I think I have been missing a key point of motherhood. I would send them off to do their chores, while I did mine. Get them to work on a project or play with something while I worked on something I needed to do. I have come to realize I wasn't fully involving them in my life, and consequently not really being involved in their lives as much as I should. So the new plan for chores is working. They love cleaning together. I enjoy it too. Yesterday by 9:00a.m. my house was spic n' span. And we had the rest of the day to play and spend time together. I noticed that my girls tried to keep things cleaner for the rest of the day too, since they had to help clean everything up. And here is the best part....they are actually doing more work now than they were before!!! I hope this plan with continue to work, what a happy mom I will be if it does!

The Game of Tag

I went on vacation over Easter, so I missed the game of tag. I am trying to catch up now. I hope that since I was tagged by two people that I don't have to do 12!!! I had a hard time coming up with 6...I guess that is because I am perfectly abnormal, so I don't always think of the things I do as weird!!! Of course they are probably weird to others.

Here goes....

1. I love chickens. Ever since I met my in-laws chickens I have been hooked. We have had about two dozen of our own, but we don't have any right now....we are looking for a way to get around those city codes....Here is a picture I took this weekend of my in-laws chicken...isn't it cute!

2. I hate water on my face. I will never be a good swimmer because I can't stick my face in the water. I can't even stand water on my face in the shower. I tolerate it long enough to wash my face and that is it. My 5-year old is just like me.
3. My neck bends backwards. The exact term is "Reversal of the Cervical Lordosis". It has caused me horrible kinked necks and dizziness for years. Thanks to Dr. Kyle I am doing much better these days.
4. I am a library junky. I love the library. At any given moment I have 10 books on hold, and have my limit of 30 books checked out. (I have even had more than the limited 30 checked out, but don't tell the librarians!!!) I take my girls there once a week to get new books.
5. I hate boogers and noses. Seriously they make me ill. I about gag if one of my kids has their finger up their nose. My husband says I have the cleanest nose in the world. I can't stand anyone to touch my nose either, it drives me crazy.
6. I collect house plans. I love them. I have a 2 inch thick folder full of house plans. I could sit and look at them for hours...ask my DH...it drives him nuts.

Well there are a few weird things about me. I would tag some more people, but most of my blogging friends have already been tagged.

Ducky Birthday

Here is my little birthday ducky taking a bath so she would be all clean for the party.


Here is the bathtub birthday cake:


My 5-year old decorated the table for dinner. She is such a party planner already. A kid after my own heart!!

Milestones

My baby just turned one yesterday. She reached three major milestones this week: she turned one, learned how to walk, and was weaned from breastfeeding. Isn't it strange how every new thing your child does is such an emotional experience. You are so excited for them to learn something new and to grow, but at the same time you are so very sad because you will miss them being so small. I am excited that she is one, but I am sad because she is no longer a tiny baby. I love that she is learning to walk, but I will miss her adorable hip swaying crawl. I love not being tied down to breastfeeding and finally having my body back, but I will miss that closeness and being able to sit and hold her and just adore her for those hours everyday. I will miss all these sweet memories of my little girl, but I will cherish the new things she is learning to do everyday. (Here's a picture of the birthday girl...stay tuned for adorable ducky birthday pics.)

Heirloom Pies

I feel like pies are a part of my heritage. I know that is a weird thought, but I feel nostalgic every time I think about pie. My family has had a long tradition of pie making. My Great-Grandma Mae use to make pies. I never got to taste one, but they must have been pretty great because my Great-Grandpa would tell others that he "built" them. (Our family doesn't make things...we "build" things.) My Grandpa must have learned how to make pies from his mother. My Grandpa use to be an excellent pie maker in his younger days. He doesn't often make them anymore since he is in his 90's (he still can make a killer carrot cake though). We would often go over to Grandpa's house and he would have a couple pies waiting (I don't know that he ever knew we were coming...it was just common to have a pie all the time at his house). My favorites were lemon meringue and huckleberry. They were delicious!!! I guess that is where my Dad got his love of pies too. I don't think my Dad has ever made a pie (but he makes great coffee cake and biscuits), but he loves to eat them. My Dad has always said that he has a "pie hole". The black hole like space in his stomach where there is always room for a slice (or two) of pie. Even after a big dinner, there was always space in the "pie hole". My sister became a wonderful pie maker as well. She is who taught me how to make pies. I still remember the day she taught me. We made huckleberry pie (a family favorite). I even have the memory recorded in my journal. Now I love making pies!!! Any flavor will do...I don't care what it is, they are all great. I even had wedding pies at my wedding instead of wedding cake. They were triple berry pies that I made an ivy leaf crust around the edge. We placed them on a tiered plate and embellished with flowers. They were very unique, and beautiful. Yesterday was my Dad's 65th birthday....and since it was his birthday, the occasion called for a pie. I made two...a chocolate pecan pie (a new recipe, that was a hit...I didn't come home with any leftovers of it), and my standard apple pie. My 5-year old wanted to help me make them, so I let her...afterall it is passing on a family heirloom.




Here are the pie recipes I made for my Dad's birthday:

Perfect Apple Pie
6-8 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
2 Tblsp. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
dash of allspice

Mix all ingredients together. Place in pie pastry. Top with 2 tsp. butter (cut into tiny pieces). Place other pastry on top. Crimp edges. Sprinkle top of pie with sugar. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes with a sheet of aluminum foil on top. Remove foil and bake for 25 minutes more.

Chocolate Pecan Pie
1/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup broken pecan pieces
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together. Place in pie pastry shell. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Poke a few toothpicks into filling and cover with a sheet of aluminum foil (the toothpicks are to prevent the aluminum foil from sticking to the filling). Bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate for 2 hours until chilled.

Double-Crust Pie Pastry
1 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
2/3 cup shortening
7+ Tblsp. cold water

Mix salt with flour. Cut in shortening with a pastry cutter (a must have for every pie "builder"). Mix in water until dough becomes manageable. Divide into 2 equal parts. Roll out between 2 pieces of plastic wrap (my best pie making advise!!!!). Remove plastic wrap and place pastry into pie pan. Continue making pie according to individual pie recipe.

Start a tradition in your family...make a pie!!! I think I will go have a slice of my leftover apple pie....YUM!!!!

Doll House Close-ups

Here are some close up pictures of our doll house. Enjoy!

Doll House Pictures.

I have finally figured out how to post pictures!!! HURRAH!!!! These are some pictures of the doll house my husband and I made for our 3 girls for Christmas. It was so fun to make. My husband made most of the tiny furniture (he can do anything!). My girls love to play Barbies and spend countless hours playing with this house. My 5 year old loves to redecorate the rooms and move the furniture all around.

From the mouths of babes....

My 3 year old never ceases to crack us up. Last night Dad was helping her say her prayers. It went something like this:

Dad: Bless Grandpa and Grandma.
3-year old: Bless my toys.

Another time:

Mom: Bless me to listen to Mom and Dad.
3-year old: Bless Mom and Dad to listen to me.

She is so funny! I don't know where she comes up with things. The other day my 5 year old was coloring faces on some paper dolls. She said, "These are Mom's eyes." And my 3-year said, "Where is Mom's moustache?" Well I have no idea about that one!!!!

The things little kids say are so adorable. I need to be better at writing them down so I can always look back and remember how cute they were. I better go do it right now!!!

Entertaining Cake

We had a party yesterday with my husband's family. I was assigned to bring a dessert. Whenever I have to bring dessert for a crowd, I always think of this cake that my mother use to make when she was entertaining. I call it Cherry Blob cake, but that is not it's original name. It has an impressive appearance, and it is so yummy. Try it.

Cherry Blob Cake

1 box white or yellow cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup water
3 eggs
1 can cherry pie filling
glaze (1 1/2 cups powdered sugar mixed with 2 Tblsp. milk)

Mix sour cream, water and eggs together until well combined. Add cake mix and stir until moistened. Spread in the bottom of a greased jelly roll pan. Blob cherry pie filling on the top in spoon full sized blobs. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool. When cool drizzle top with glaze. Serves 24 (or cut bigger pieces to serve 18).